Use of firewood ash waste in electrical siliceous porcelain

The use of firewood ash waste for the production of electric porcelain can represent an important technological and environmental alternative for the final disposal of this abundant solid waste material. This work aims to study the effect of replacing of sodium feldspar (albite) for firewood ash waste in electrical siliceous porcelain formulation. The firewood ash waste was obtained from a ceramic plant located in south-eastern Brazil (Campos dos Goytacazes-RJ). For this purpose, siliceous porcelain formulations containing up to 4.2 wt.% of firewood ash waste as a replacement for sodium feldspar were prepared. Disk specimens were pressed and fired at 1300 °C using a fast-firing cycle. The porcelain specimens were tested to determine their technical properties (linear shrinkage, water absorption, apparent porosity, apparent density, tensile strength, and electrical resistivity). The results indicated that test specimens containing up to 4.2 wt.% of firewood ash waste have high potential for use as electrical siliceous porcelain material. Thus, an alternative use of firewood ash waste is proposed, which can be converted into economic gain and also contribute for the environmental sustainability. (author)